Angelo Evres
"What kind of memories do you think that train has?" Angelo Evres is the owner and operator of Buttermilk Bathhouse. Eccentric in his ways, he's a hard worker with a relaxed style; he enjoys getting lost in thought as he works, often only pausing to share his thoughts with those around them, and always seeking for some kind of deeper meaning or connection. He is profoundly deaf, but he loves to share a conversation with anyone willing. Gifts Loved Gifts "...!!" Soaps, letter, coffee Liked Gifts "Is this for me? I like it." Incense, orchids, photographs, cosmetics Disliked Gifts "I don't really want to keep this." Sour things, magic tomes, medicine Hated Gifts "..........." Failed dish, alcohol The kind of person who truly lives his job, Angelo loves soaps and bath/skincare products of all kinds. But he also loves to communicate, and non-verbal means of achieving it are such a treat for him; the reach of someone wanting to share some sort of conversation with him is what impacts him most. Personality For someone who works in such a warm and humid place, Angelo can be easily summarized as chill. Cool-headed, collected, and very calm, he’s of an extremely mild and friendly temperament and enjoys taking it easy. While he may not be the hardest worker as a result, he keeps well-tuned to his goals and knows how to evaluate exactly how hard he needs to work in order to achieve them—and no harder. Due to his own mannerisms, he can’t be particularly strict with his employees, but he’s satisfied so long as they do what’s required of them. His discipline often comes in the form of accidental psychological warfare, though, as it can take him some time to get around to it—leading the anticipation to build indefinitely of exactly when ''and ''how exactly it’s going to come... A thinker, Angelo is spacey and favors thinking on abstract or unusual topics that tend to carry absolutely no purpose relating to the real world—commonly in applying very human traits to very nonhuman things—and pondering aspects of life that are beyond his own that he finds in others. When not engaged or while he's working, he’ll generally lose all sense of his surroundings during his ponders, and can come off rudely because of it, consumed in his own personal silence and forgetting most social conduct. If questioned about it, though, he’ll gladly discuss. He loves to have conversations, especially about such kinds of odd thoughts—for those who aren’t too put-off by them, at least—and greatly favors discussion of all kinds with all types of people; being not one to exhibit a plethora of emotional responses, he’s quite tolerant of all sorts of opinions—though to a point where it can border on the dense or oblivious, not to mention that he isn’t always the best at picking up on when people don’t tolerate him. Some social cues go over his head, but it doesn’t stop him from trying. Little keeps him down from continuing to try, but he is still human and sensitive to the judgements of others. History Early Life The fourth of five children to an already-enormous extended family, Angelo's family and relatives could've populated their small town by themselves. The town itself was just a stopping point on a train line, a place to visit and rest up while trains refueled in preparation for their next stop--the most notable spot on that point being their family spa, owned and operated by the family and opened as a branch of the third generation of their family business. Rather than branching out further, the good location and business had all of the family sticking to it and rapidly growing, until there were enough kids to run the spa when they retired, as well as for some of them to branch further and open their own. Because of this, Angelo was always surrounded by people--aunts, uncles, cousins, sisters, grandparents, customers; leading him to constantly be exposed to new influences, appearances, mindsets, approaches to life, even from a very young age. It was discovered in his infancy, though, that Angelo had been born profoundly deaf--but it never seemed to stop him, especially as his parents were encouraged to begin to teach him to sign. In doing so, they also taught themselves, and some members of their family that all wanted to communicate with him--something he was eager to do from his youngest days. Not all of his family was so interested in accommodating him, though, and pressured his parents to ensure that he also learned to speak; despite the harsh words they used to put it in motion, it was greatly beneficial, and Angelo would go on to speak to anyone who would listen--family members, customers, delivery people--even if they very often had trouble understanding each other through Angelo's early muffled speech and his limited ability to lip read back off of them. He wanted to stay constantly engaged after coming into this new skill, and it was what eventually sparked his love of discussion. Even still, barriers existed; with a family that large, not everyone could share the same feelings. While many of the open-minded adults greatly embraced him, others and a number of the children were uncomfortable around him, especially as he would begin to come to others with unusual thoughts and ideas. It was difficult, especially during his childhood, and he found solace only in the gentle grip of his aunt's or his mother's hands when they would pull him away to go talk to them, instead. The Spa This was all in the midst of growing up and helping out in--and later working at--their family's spa, where he found little exposure to much else. He never thought to bother with anyone else, always lost in his own head, and he enjoyed the atmosphere; the pace was slow and quiet, and he loved the calmness that surrounded every art they offered. He may not have been the most motivated of workers, but he certainly embodied the feeling of a spa--he would spend hours sitting with his feet in the baths, thinking or chatting up a customer; spend far too long cleaning and cleansing the saunas, almost to passing out from the heat; studying the hands of his older cousins giving massages in the parlor before being told to scram. But as everyone grew, there were expectations of everyone to open their own branches, carrying out the family tradition; his three older sisters all left home early, going to the farther reaches of cities, eager to get away from their cramped home and leaving Angelo behind. Some of his cousins followed; each member opened their own branch in their specialization--some opened spas, massage parlors, saunas, etc--spreading their reach wide into the beyond, but Angelo lacked an interest in going far from home, and struggled to understand their motives and reasoning. Their absence had him running their baths on his own for a few years before he was old and experienced enough to branch out, instilling in him all the knowledge he needed to do so. Despite the pressure, he felt little of it, armed with everything he'd learned since his childhood; and he was decidedly looking forward to being in a new place with new people to learn about. He wanted to settle himself somewhere similar to their own home; a small town, in a stop along the train line, and he found the perfect plot in a little town called Toffee. Toffee Town Operating the bathhouse on his own proved hard, laborious work, and it was lonely. He'd never worked alongside people before that weren't his relatives, and caught himself being too casual with them all--despite being their boss--and often struck them oddly. He wasn't used to the role, or to living alone; it was far more isolating than he expected. He wasn't good at getting out; he never had been, and found himself on his own more often than among the strangers he'd been so eager to meet with. Anyone that would agree to talk with him, though, was a treat that he embraced, and often went out of his way to continue engaging, quickly coming to love writing and sending letters; even amongst the other people living in town. He still isn't sure what's holding him back, keeping him from inching farther into the world, from jumping into the lifestyle he's always thought he wanted. But as the friends he's made have begun to engage him and pull him out by force to mingle among the living, deep down, he knows. Home Angelo lives in a small loft apartment over the bathhouse, accessible from a stairwell around the back. It's a simple one-room space with a standard basic kitchen and toilet room attached; a dividing screen is used to split off a bed area, and a tall thin table makes a faux-counter to divide the kitchen. His decor, like the building itself, is largely eastern, joined by a number of potted plants, carpets and tapestries; it's accented with all a number of boxes of supplies for soap making and other hobbies, in addition to the storage of materials kept in the bathhouse below. He spends a great deal of time at home, and so the space feels very lived-in, with a mess of things on every surface--projects in process, ideas written on scrap paper, letters and half-finished replies, reminders to himself, trial products, ordering catalogues... Additional Info * Only wears flip-flops and sandals, even in the winter; will never fully cover his feet. Doesn't spend a lot of time outside anyway. * Goes barefoot at home, always. Just seems to be uncomfortable in footwear in general. * His jacket and arm/leg sleeves are easily removable for when he has to work directly in the baths; wears them otherwise to keep warm. * Prefers to communicate via signing, but can speak well enough too. Lip reading only lets him catch anywhere from 30-60% of what’s said, leaving him to infer the rest. * Very monotone and carries a deaf accent, but it can sound more like a general foreign accent to an untrained ear. * Not particularly expressive in his face, though his body language is always very fluid and relaxed. * Enjoys writing and sending letters, even just to others in town (or next door… or within the same building…). * Does not know how to swim in water deeper than he is tall. * Doesn’t drink, or allow alcohol of any kind in his bathhouse. * Prefers not to be alone, but tends to be awkward meeting new people. * Favorite hobby is making soap; constantly smells of it, and will almost always give some as a gift. * Traveling makes him very nervous, especially alone, and he will avoid it when at all possible. Gallery angelo draft1.png|''Design draft'' angelo casual.png|''Casual'' angelo raresmile.png|''A rare smile'' Category:Townsfolk